EU Legal Affairs Committee Endorses Criminal Sanctions For IP Infringements

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

27 March 2007

The first EU directive aiming at harmonising national criminal laws was backed by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee last week, when it adopted a first-reading report on legislation imposing criminal sanctions for the infringement of intellectual property rights.

The issue will now go before the April plenary session.

If approved by the full Parliament and the Council, the proposed directive would oblige all Member States to consider as a criminal offence all intentional infringements of an intellectual property right carried out on a commercial scale. The text proposes, as a deterrent, measures ranging from fines to imprisonment, according to the gravity of the crime.

Members of the Legal Affairs' committee backed the overall aim of the Commission's proposal, while amending some of its provisions.

They excluded patent rights from the scope of the Directive, and decided that criminal sanctions should only apply to those infringements deliberately carried out to obtain a commercial advantage. Piracy committed by private users for personal, non-profit purposes was therefore also excluded.

The legislation aims to ensure that national judicial authorities will always be able to impose sufficiently serious penalties by setting out minimum levels for the heavier punishments imposed by national law.

Under the proposed Directive, in cases of serious crimes committed by a criminal organisation, the maximum penalty must be at least EUR300,000 and/or four years' imprisonment. The same applies where the offences carry a health or safety risk.

For less serious infringements, the maximum penalties should include criminal and civil fines of at least EUR100,000. In some cases, remedies can include the seizure and destruction of counterfeited goods.

The proposed legislation reflects the Commission's interpretation of the European Court of Justice’s judgment of 13 September 2005.

According to the Commission, this ruling allowed for measures under the Community method to insist on criminal sanctions, when these are required for the effective implementation of Community law.

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